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19 September 2006

Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has a right to protest. We are all in pain. Despite the tremendous efforts being made in our country by both government and civil society, we continue to lose people to the scourge of HIV/AIDS. On average, according to the Medical Research Council findings for the year 2005/06 every day in South Africa over 800 people die and a thousand are infected. We are losing people in the prime of their lives. We are losing our children and youth, our future. We are losing mothers and fathers and seeing an ever-growing number of orphans and child-headed families. Our health professionals are in pain facing a pandemic for which there is as yet no cure.

There have been important initiatives to accelerate the implementation of the comprehensive plan on HIV treatment, management and care. Yet much remains to be done. We need the participation of all in this huge task. TAC is an activist group, representing the rights and needs of people living with HIV. It is their right to ask us as members of parliament to listen to them. Government has taken the steps to communicate and manage the messages communicated. Now is the time for unity and dialogue on HIV/AIDS. It is time to set aside our differences and find common ground if our efforts to fight the HIV pandemic are to succeed. The spread of HIV thrives on divisions and ignorance. We need to overcome party political and individual personality differences. There is much common ground and there are many forums in government and civil society that can be used to unite on the common ground and air our differences responsibly and respectfully as we all seek to address this scourge that has affected us all. We must all refrain from demonising one another or to personalise the debate.

As members of parliament we have a task to unite all our people behind this campaign. We can provide leadership. We can do so by opening up the space for people to speak to us about the scourge of HIV. We can lead by speaking out and talking openly about our own direct experience of the pain of HIV. We can lead by volunteering for counselling and testing for HIV and in this way fight the stigma around HIV. As elected leaders we can help spread a message of hope. That message is contained in the government’s comprehensive strategy and the comprehensive plan on HIV treatment, management and care. The comprehensive strategy and plan emphasises prevention and research, balanced nutrition, treatment of opportunistic infections and treatment with antiretroviral (ARVs) for those who need them and prevention of mother to child infection. This is the basis for the message of hope.

Issued by: Department of Health
19 September 2006